


A Series Of Unsuccessful Scares

by Whirlwind



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Bets & Wagers, F/M, Fluff, Halloween, Handon, Handon Weekly Halloween Challenge, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:00:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27305953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whirlwind/pseuds/Whirlwind
Summary: A determined Landon makes a bet with Hope that he can scare her by Halloween. Will he succeeded in his effort? Or is Hope Mikaelson truly spook proof?
Relationships: Landon Kirby/Hope Mikaelson
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30





	A Series Of Unsuccessful Scares

It's a late October night when Landon and Hope are cozily nestled up together on her bed, engrossed in watching a zombie horror flick that's on TV. As the heroes of the film enter an abandoned barn, a zombie suddenly drops down from the ceiling on screen, causing a startled Landon to practically jump right out of his skin.

Taking a second to catch his breath again, he glances over at an absolutely unfazed Hope Mikaelson, who looks just about as cool as a cucumber. He can’t help but frown a little in secret disappointment at her lack of reaction, and his girlfriend manages to catch sight of it out of the corner of her eye, causing her to make a realization.

“Landon... Did you put on a scary movie in the hopes that I’d get scared and cuddle up to you more?” She asks slyly, and he stiffens up at the accusation, stumbling over his tongue as he tries to respond to her question.

“What? No, of course not. That would be a total cliche.” Landon attempts to sound convincing, but after a beat, he unsuccessfully crumbles under the pressure, and admits the truth. “Okay, maybe. But it’s clear that plan has failed miserably. I’m more scared of this movie than you are.” He pouts, and Hope can’t help but laugh at that, resting her head comfortably back on his shoulder.

“Sorry. I’m just not really scared of anything.” She replies plainly, shrugging nonchalantly, and Landon eyes her skeptically, an idea already formulating in the back of his mind.

“Is that so?” He muses, rubbing at his chin with his hand. “Well then, challenge accepted.”

Hope’s brows knit together, creating a small crease in her forehead as she moves to stare at him, perplexed. “What challenge?”

Straightening up as he gathers a sense of confidence, a coy grin plays at Landon’s lips. “I bet that I can find a way to scare you by Halloween.”

His girlfriend lets out a disbelieving huff as she shakes her head, very doubtful of that. “We fight off monsters on a weekly basis, and I’ve grown up around the supernatural my entire life. There’s really not much that fazes me anymore.”

"I'm up for the task." Landon assures her, and Hope hums, rather intrigued by this little proposition. Arching a well manicured eyebrow, she tips her chin up in curiosity of said challenge. “And what exactly are you betting?”

Her boyfriend thinks it over a moment before finally making his decision. “If I win, we go to the Halloween dance dressed in the costumes of my choice.”

“And when you lose?” She asks with a smug little smirk, making Landon even more determined than before.

“ _ **If**_ I lose, then for the next two weeks, you have control over the TV and movie choices.”

“Alright." She announces as she moves to sit up, so that they're face to face with one another. "If we do this, then we need to establish some ground rules. Like, no killing yourself in some horrific fashion.” Hope can't help but shudder at even the thought of that. She's already seen him die far too many times, and even though she knew he'd always come back, it never got any easier to watch.

Landon nods wholeheartedly in agreement with that, he wanted to scare her, but certainly not in a way that would be emotionally scarring. “Of course. Fun scary only. Nothing permanently traumatizing.”

“And nothing dumb enough that you get yourself hurt either, got it?” Hope warns, prodding him firmly in the chest with her index finger to show that she means business.

“Okay. I accept those terms. So then, do we have a deal?” He asks, holding his hand out to shake on it.

“Deal.” Hope agrees with a nod, but instead of shaking hands, she decides to seal the deal with a short kiss, catching him by surprise.

"What was that for?" Landon inquires, and the young woman smiles innocently as she settles back in beside him. "For luck, because you're gonna need it."

* * *

Landon's first attempt at scaring Hope is a simple one. He’s slipped a picture of a creepy looking clown into one of her textbooks, hoping to startle her when she eventually opens it up during their next class. In spite the easy premise however, it doesn't _quite_ go according to plan.

As Hope and Lizzie are chatting with one another in the hall, the blonde suddenly glances behind her shorter friend, noticing someone off in the distance. Placing a judgemental hand on her hip, she nods her head in the direction of the perplexing sight on the other end of the hallway.

“Why is the Hobbit lurking around like some creepy stalker? Is he trying to perfect his Gollum impression?"

Hope slowly glances over her shoulder, and Landon clumsily ducks behind a corner to avoid being seen by her. Letting out a small sigh as she shakes her head, she begins to explain. “We have a bet going on to see whether or not he can scare me before Halloween.”

Lizzie snorts out a derisive laugh at such a preposterous notion. "The only thing scary about Landon Kirby is his fashion sense. He doesn’t have a chance in hell of winning that bet."

The auburn haired girl shrugs lightly in agreement, though there's a hint of a proud smile twitching at the corner of her lips. "Still, it's kinda cute to watch. Plus he certainly doesn’t lack determination, so I'll give him that."

"Ugh." Lizzie groans, grimace on her face. "It's way to early in the morning for all this romantic sappiness. I'm out of here and off to Professor Leeman's class."

"Oh, that reminds." Hope suddenly remembers, sliding her backpack off her shoulder and reaching into her bag to pull something out. "Thanks for letting me use your textbook.”

Her friend nods, taking the item in one hand and offering a small wave with the other as she makes her leave.

Once she's gone, Landon scrambles over to Hope, fidgeting slightly as he approaches. “Hey, why did you give Lizzie your textbook?”

Hope tips her head and blinks at him in confusion. “It was hers, I was just borrowing for an assignment. Why?”

Landon swallows nervously, loosening the collar of his shirt with his fingers as he hesitates a moment. When he finally opens his mouth to explain, he’s cut off by the sound of a high pitched scream coming from down the hall.

Stomping back into view, Lizzie’s shoots Landon a death glare, balling up a fist at her side, and Hope quickly puts two and two together.

“Run!” Hope whispers hastily, giving his shoulder a small nudge to push him in the opposite direction of the very ticked off blonde, and he swiftly makes a break for it.

* * *

Landon's second attempt to scare Hope is somehow even worse than his first, backfiring in a way only he can make happen. The plan was to hide inside her closet, and jump out to scare her when she returned to her room. What he doesn't account for however, is her being gone so long that he starts getting claustrophobic in there. Which then leads to small panic attack that he can't help feel rather mortified about when she walks into her dorm and finds him sitting on her floor, trying to catch his breath.

Hope's sweet about the whole thing of course, and tries to talk him out this whole wager, but he continues to press on, resolute in his endeavor.

So after that spectacular failure, he tries a handful of other things that don't involve him being stuck in small spaces this time. He puts a freaky old talking doll under her bed, hides a fake severed limb in her desk drawer, but nothing seems to work. Hope takes every single thing in stride, much to his disheartenment. Seeing as he's already chosen their costumes for the Halloween dance, he's going to have to come up with something, and soon.

* * *

With only hours left of the bet now, Hope's not all that surprised when Landon asks her to meet him at their usual spot down by the lake. Knowing him, he's going to try one last attempt to scare her, before finally having to admit defeat on the matter.

Part of her can't help feel a little bad though that's he's going to lose. He'd taken on a herculean task of trying too spook her, putting in weeks worth of effort in hopes of succeeding. She briefly wonders if maybe she should just fake it and let him win, but Landon would no doubt see right through her, plus he'd never want to win like that.

With a helpless shrug, Hope takes a seat on the wooden slats, letting her feet dangle off the edge over the water, as she waits for him to show. The fall air is cool and crisp this evening, and Hope's eyes drift up towards the night sky to take in the glimmering stars above. It's actually quite peaceful out, lulling her into some what of a relaxed state, as she listens to the songs of the crickets off in the distance.

Glancing down at her watch, Hope realizes it's already 15 minutes past the time Landon said he'd meet her here, and a sense a worry starts to gnaw at her a little. He was probably fine, and this was all just part of his plan to scare her, Hope attempts to reassure her anxious mind.

It's then that something cold and wet grabs her firmly by the ankle, throwing her off balance, and sending her tumbling forward into the lake with a small yelp. Noisily splashing down into the water, she feels movement underneath her, but the dim moonlight prevents her from seeing anything below.

Surely this had to be one of Landon's scare attempts, right? And the reason why he hadn't shown up yet, she tries to convince herself. "Nice try, Landon. But this isn't funny anymore!" She calls out into the darkness as she looks around for him.

"What's not funny?" A familiar voice inquires, and she swirls her body back in the direction of the dock to see a perplexed Landon standing there with his hands in his pockets.

"Landon!?" Hope calls out in surprise and relief at seeing he's okay, and he steps a little closer to hear her better.

"Hey, sorry I'm late. I got held up." He apologizes before quirking his head to the side, as he takes her in. "Also, why are you out in the lake?"

Hope opens her mouth, but no words coming out as a sense of panic begins to settle into her bones. Maybe this wasn't one of Landon's attempts at frightening her, what if this time it was actually a mon- but before she can even finish that thought, something grabs her around the waist, and she let's out a startled scream as she's dragged back under the water.

Kicking her feet wildly, she begins to claw at whatever is wrapped around her torso. When her sense of touch registers the familiar feel of human arms encircling her, she's able to pry them apart and rush back up to the surface. Inhaling a sharp breath, air refilling her lungs, and she sees the water break a couple of feet away from her, revealing none other her boyfriend, Landon Kirby.

"Gotcha." He grins triumphantly, panting slightly as he tries to regulate his breathing while keeping himself afloat.

Hope's jaw drops as she tries to process what just happened. When she doesn't say anything, Landon begins to panic a little, swimming closer to her. "Sorry! Was that too much? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Hope assures him, nodding in confirmation. "But wait. If you're here, then who the hell is that!?" She yells, pointing back towards the dock, at the imposter still standing there.

The fake Landon removes his hands from his pockets, revealing a large ring that Hope recognizes as the one Clarke used to impersonate Professor Vardemus. Removing the object from his finger, the visage fades, showing that it is none other than fellow classmate, and the school's lone fairy, Wade.

"Hi, Hope." He greets with a small and enthusiastic wave as she blinks repeatedly at him, a blank expression on her face.

"Thanks man." Landon calls out appreciatively, and his friend shoots him a quick thumbs up before heading back towards the school.

Turning back towards her boyfriend, she playfully shoves him in the chest, sending him floating back a little bit. Narrowing her eyes at him slightly, she tries to make sense of all this. "I'm so confused. Since when can you swim!?"

"I _may_ have started taking some lesson's just so I could pull this off." He admits sheepishly with a gentle laugh, once again proving his undying determination that she can't help but admire.

Scoffing quietly in amusement, she shakes her head at him in disbelief.

"So, did I win the bet?" Landon inquires with a playful smile, and a hint of confidence showing in his features.

"Yes, you won the bet." She concedes begrudgingly. “You get to pick our costumes.”

Landon pumps his fist in excitement, causing Hope to roll her eyes, but her affectionate smile betrays her true feelings on the matter. 

"Not to interrupt your little victory dance, but can we get out of here now? I'm freezing." She shivers, wrapping her arms around herself, and he quickly agrees with that statement as the wind begins to pick up.

Once back on dry land, Hope shakes the clinging water off of her, teeth chattering noisily in the process as a small _'brrr'_ vibrates through her lips.

"I think I have a way to warm you up." Landon tells her, and Hope tips her head, arching a curious brow to see what he means by that. Reaching his hand out to take hers, he pulls her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her waist, causing Hope to chuckle lightly at the gesture.

"This isn't _quite_ what I thought you meant." She teases.

"Just wait." He tells her, and it's then that the sound of roaring flames fill her ears, as Landon manifest his phoenix wings. Bending them inward, he encircles the two of them in an envelopment of warmth that shields them from the elements of the cool fall night.

The chill immediately leaves her body, and the pleasurable heat causes her to sigh contently as she shuts her eyes and nestles herself deeper into his chest.

“That better?” Landon asks, and a small hum leaves Hope's lips as she nods. She decides not to even bother telling him that she knows a spell that would instantly dry the both them off, because she much prefers this method instead.

"So your plan was both a trick and a treat? Someone's really living up the the holiday spirit." Hope jokes, making Landon let out an amused huff as he squints a little. "I think calling it a treat is a _little_ much."

"Either way, this is nice." She murmurs quietly, enjoying the moment alone with him, where the rest of the world seems like it’s fallen away, and she feels Landon press a soft kiss to the top of her head. "Happy to hear that."

"So about these costumes..." Hope muses curiously after a while, tapping her finger lightly against his shirt. "Are you finally gonna tell me what they are?"

"Nope. It's a surprise."

"It's something sci-fi, isn't it?"

Landon shrugs innocently. "Can't say, you'll just have to wait and see."

* * *

"No." Hope replies sternly, arms folded over her chest as she stares at the costume being held up by her boyfriend, an hour before the Halloween party. "Absolutely not."

"It's cute." Landon argues, swinging it from side to side like a pendulum.

"It's ridiculous." She corrects him. "Why on earth would you pick this out for me?"

"You know why." He gently reminds her with a soft smile on his face, causing her adamant opposition against the outfit to falter as she makes the realization. "It's meant to be a compliment." He assures her.

Heaving a loud sigh, Hope's shoulders sag downward as she feels herself caving in on the matter. The truth is, that memory still brings a fond little smile to her lips every time she recalls it, and a cozy sense of nostalgia that wraps around her like a soft blanket. And it’s because of that, that she can't bring herself not to wear the stupid thing.

"Fine. I'll wear the damn Unicorn costume!" Hope growls grumpily, snatching it from his hand and stalking off towards the bathroom to get changed, noisily slamming the door behind her.

"Love you!" Landon anxiously yells through the large hunk of wood, nervous she might actually be mad. But then he hears her chuckle faintly on the other side, putting his mind at ease. "Love you too." She mumbles, shaking her head in amusement as she smiles.


End file.
